The message was sent by Senators Robert Menendez and Jack Reed, as well as Congressmen Eliot Engel and Adam Smith, to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

“We understand that the administration is considering withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty, and we urge you not to do so,” the document says on the Menendez website.

As noted, the withdrawal from the agreement "would be contrary to US national security."

Legislators have indicated that the corresponding “process is moving without any notice to, or consultation with, Congress.”

“As far as we understand, the departments were ordered not to even discuss this issue with Congress,” the message says.

Senators and congressmen describe the treaty as "an important multilateral agreement on arms control."

The US withdrawal from the agreement, the report emphasizes, would be “another gift” from the administration of the American leader Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The withdrawal from the contract ... would be another gift to Putin from the Trump administration," the report emphasizes.

From the point of view of lawmakers, DON is "an essential element of American and European security, and the decision to withdraw would be another blow to Ukraine’s regional stability and security."

Earlier, Eliot Engel, chairman of the House’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, said he was “deeply concerned about reports that the US is considering withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty.”

CNN later, citing a source, said the Trump administration would soon announce plans to withdraw from the agreement.

In early February, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the US exit from the INF Treaty “a gift to Putin.”

More details in the material RT.